The Travels of Peter Kalm Through Colonial North America - Purple Mountain Press

Commemorating the 300th anniversary of the birth of Linnaeus, 1707-2007

Reviewed in THE WALL STREET JOURNAL, November 17, 2007

THE TRAVELS OF
PETER KALM,
FINNISH-SWEDISH NATURALIST,
THROUGH COLONIAL NORTH AMERICA,
1748-1751

by Paula Ivaska Robbins
Preface by James L. Reveal

FROM THE PREFACE

"Today, one can visit the Linnean Society at Burlington House in London
and examine the actual Kalm specimens used by Linnaeus to name many of his
American plants. For me, it is a bit humbling to touch a leaf or examine a
flower collected by Kalm in the wilds of America, brought to Europe, and
studied by Linnaeus. It is a reminder that most of my knowledge of
American plants is based, to a considerable degree, on the efforts of
others who lived generations ago in a time and under circumstances I
hardly can comprehend. Now, in this book, one can gain a feeling for the
man, Peter Kalm, and not just admire the surviving dried plant specimens
he labored to bring to the Master." —James L. Reveal, Professor Emeritus,
University of Maryland; Honorary Curator, The New York Botanical Garden

EXCERPT FROM CHAPTER SEVEN:
THE JOURNEY TO CANADA, MAY 19 - JULY 6, 1749

On May 19, 1750, Kalm left Raccoon for Philadelphia, presumably to make
final preparations for his trip north and probably to consult once again
with Evans. He wrote a letter to the Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences on
May 28, outlining his plan, optimistically hoping to be able to return to
Sweden in the autumn or in the following spring to sow the seeds he had
collected.

Kalm dined with Franklin on May 30 and was served a dish of yams, a
vegetable new to him, which he found tasty. Kalm was very adventuresome
when presented with new foods or methods of preparation and was always
eager to experiment.

The next day he and Jungström left Philadelphia and sailed up the river,
stopping at Burlington, and arrived at Trenton, New Jersey, early on the
morning of June 1. The next day they traveled by wagon to New Brunswick
through fields sown with wheat, rye, corn, oats, buckwheat, hemp and flax,
and they saw many wild flowers in bloom in the woods. The air was perfumed
with the scent of magnolia blossoms from the trees growing in swamps that
they passed.

On June 3, in pleasant weather, they boarded a boat bound for New York
that sailed down the Raritan River and around Staten Island. In New York
he was able to purchase wild strawberries from a street vendor. They spent
a week in the city making final preparations, even purchasing fabric for
the tailor to make their summer clothing.28 Kalm conferred again with
Cadwallader Colden.

With the aid of the incoming tide, Kalm and Jungström boarded a boat on
June 11 that sailed up the Hudson, through the majestic Highlands, past
the current site of West Point. At first, the sloop was able to make use
of its sails to propel them, but when the wind died down, the sailors were
forced to use oars. When the tide turned and the wind blew against them,
they stopped for a time on shore, where Kalm saw Kalmia latifolia in full
blossom and sassafras, chestnut and tulip poplar trees. On June 12, they
were propelled by the tide, and later the wind, past the village of
Rhinebeck. “This little town is not visible from the riverside.”

They arrived in Albany at eight o’clock on the morning of June 13, having
sailed all night with a favorable wind. Albany’s location, at a point
where the Hudson was still deep enough for large vessels, was an
advantage. The merchants of the city sent lumber, wheat, flour, and dried
peas to New York City. The city was also the main collection point for
furs from Oswego, the trading town on Lake Ontario to which Indians from
the interior brought their furs. Kalm reported with disdain that the
merchants of Albany sold brandy to them, which often enabled them to cheat
drunken Indians on the price of the cloth and metal goods which they
obtained in exchange for furs.

When Paula Ivaska Robbins learned that a book had never been
written about Kalm’s travels for an American audience, despite the fact
that his journal is frequently quoted by historians, it seemed the perfect
topic for her. Born in the United States of Finnish parents, she had
written a previous book about Finnish history, Nights of Summer, Nights of
Autumn, and about American history, The Royal Family of Concord. A
lifelong gardener, she is a volunteer guide at the North Carolina
Arboretum in Asheville, North Carolina. Dr. Robbins, a retired university
administrator, has degrees from Vassar College, Boston University, and the
University of Connecticut; she has taught at the University of Helsinki.